The Light of Shadows
by silverfrost9
Summary: In a Sinnoh now run by Team Galactic, a damaged teenage girl must escape their clutches and find relief in an organization out to stop them. Fighting for her life and struggling to find happiness, she must take risks that were once beyond her imagination
1. An Identity Erased

I burst into the gigantic Department Store with my face partially covered by a thick, light blue scarf. Hands buried in the pockets of my tan trench coat, I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. I suppose I was rather unsuccessful at this, however, seeing as most of my regular clothing was suspiciously covered by the long coat. A beige cap and the scarf hid my head and lower half of my face respectively. I looked down at my feet to see that the only shoes I had were covered in mud. The brown stains hid the true color of the boots for the most part.

I took a deep breath, feeling myself shudder. I had made myself weak with anxiety and confusion for most of my life, but it was especially apparent at this moment.

_Would anyone recognize me?_ I thought to myself, trying hard not to panic. Praying no one would know my face, I stepped away from the entrance of the huge building. I looked around while trying not to move my head much. My eyes were exposed, and maybe even that alone would be enough for someone to spoil my cover. I decided that making any eye contact would be unwise.

It was difficult not to look up at the vast shelves of Veilstone City's Department Store, though. They were filled with everything anyone could need. There were trainer supplies such as Pokeballs, potions, elixirs, technical machines, and contest supplies. The store also carried what people needed for themselves, like food, clothing, and hygiene products. The city was always known for its booming business, and most of its riches could be attributed to this Department Store, which seemed to have everything under the sun.

I had only been inside a few times despite living in Veilstone City all of my life, and allowed myself a moment to marvel at it. It really was fantastic. The ivory lights on the white ceiling tiles glowed above me, reflecting off of the polished white floor. The grey shelves in front of me lined up equidistantly, overflowing with customers. The aisle I stood in front of contained Pokemon food and breeding equipment, and I watched as people grabbed products made especially for their types of Pokemon.

_No, this isn't where I need to be_, I thought as I remembered the task at hand. I quickly looked up at the white signs between the aisles, which were labeled with a plain, black text. I walked by each, nearly bumping into a few people on the way, until I came to a sign that had the list I was looking for.

"Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Color," I read aloud quietly. I marched down the aisle in desperation. I had to fix it so that no one would know who I was anymore. I had to start over.

As I walked, I felt something tickling my neck slightly. I stopped dead in my tracks as I realized I had forgotten to regularly check whether or not my hair was concealed properly. I reached up and was able to feel a couple of strands poking out of my hat. Although it was tightly in a ponytail, a few of the shorter hairs managed to escape.

"Damn," I muttered to myself as I tried frantically stuffing the stray hairs back inside of my hat. Looking down at my gloves, I saw that a few had come loose from my head. A couple of bright blue strands stuck to my hands. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed my escaping locks of hair, and shook them off of my glove when I was sure no one had been paying attention.

I stepped further down the aisle until I had come to the boxes of hair color. I glanced over all of the different types, confused over the strange amount of colors that were there. Without thinking about it too much, I pulled what looked like a plain brown dye from the shelf. I didn't care whether it was Mahogany or Chestnut Brown. I wasn't doing this for fun or simply to look good. This was so that I could stay alive.

The remainder of my time in the Department Store was spent carelessly picking out regular clothes that I could wear. I grabbed two pairs of jeans that appeared to be a good fit, as well as a few plain, cheap T-shirts that I could use. I ran through one of the Pokemon sections too, making sure to grab a few Pokeballs and Potions just in case.

"Okay, okay, Alexandria," I told myself as I headed towards the checkout, "Everything's going smoothly. Don't fret. It'll just make it that much more obvious to all these people."

However, the other customers and the salespeople were not the ones I was truly worried about. Sure, keeping my identity hidden from them would certainly be helpful towards my escape from Veilstone, but they were not the ones out to get me…

After waiting in line for a few minutes, I set my items on the counter, it being my turn to pay for them. I stared down as the seemingly bored employee scanned everything for me and rang up a total.

I pulled the money from the pockets of my trench coat, placing it on the table. I heard a displeased sigh come from the salesgirl as she realized that I had a lot of coins and ripped dollar bills in my possession. I felt bad, of course, but it was all I had. I apologized and pushed it closer to her so that she could count it. I wasn't surprised when I got change back. After all, I never got a chance to spend any of my own money, so I had been saving for quite some time.

As she printed the receipt, I looked out the windows that were in the front of the Department Store. It was slowly clearing up from before, when I had been caught in a mild rainstorm while hiding out the previous night. I watched as the cool breeze pushed against the tall trees beyond the parking lot. The nice scene did not last long for me, however.

I suddenly noticed a group of men in uniforms walking together through the lot. This was a nightmare. It was them. They were coming to find me.

_How could they have known…?_ I asked myself silently. I wondered if they knew whether or not what had happened was my fault... My father and sister must've told them that I had been the only one home. They were probably sure of the fact that I was guilty because of that...

They seemed to always know everything, though. They could find anyone if they wanted to badly enough. I wasn't exactly that valuable to them, but they had revenge to pay, and they were going to make sure they carried it out.

There were three of them. They all wore the same thing: black and silver shirts with tight, black pants. The shirts were black towards the bottom, and silver on the arms and chest. Half of their legs were covered with tall, silver boots that came to the knee. In the center of their torso, they bore a yellow symbol. It was the letter G. Still, what distinguished them even more so was their hair. They all had the same straight, bright blue sprouting from their heads.

"Oh God," I nearly screamed as they approached the store. I turned around, looking this way and that. I needed something – anything – to help me get out of there alive.

The young sales clerk had apparently been reaching out to give me my bag of items for a while now, and, obviously fed up with me, hit me with the bag to get my attention.

"Oh!" I stammered nervously. "Right!" I grabbed the bag filled with my clothes, hair dye, and Pokemon supplies and started to run for the back of the store. Before leaving the checkout area, however, I noticed a turning rack of sunglasses. Looking around, I grabbed a pair that was way too big for my face, ripped the tags off, and turned around calmly to exit the store. I didn't really care if an employee tried to apprehend me for stealing at this point. I had to get out no matter what.

One of the men from the group of criminals opened the door labeled "ENTRANCE," and they all started to walk in.

Figuring that they wouldn't even notice me leave through the opposite door, I tried to remain calm. It was far enough from the entrance, right? I held my breath as I strolled towards the exit, unable to remain completely at ease. I was trying to act natural; although, it's a lot harder to act natural when you're actually attempting to do so. I skittishly pushed open the two doors leading out onto the roads of Veilstone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the group of men entered the store. I saw two men march through the doorway as if they owned the place, barely noticing me leave. The third, on the other hand, stopped before he was about to follow the rest.

My heart started beating hard as I felt his gaze upon me. I stopped looking in his direction completely, and set my eyes straight ahead.

_Maybe he's not even looking at me_, I thought to myself, filled with dread and apprehension.

Still, there was a big chance that he was actually staring my way. I quickened my pace, hoping that I'd made it away from them safely. Once outside, I felt the wind blowing against my face. It was a bit stronger now than it had appeared when I was looking at it from inside of the Department Store. I felt the straps of my trench coat lightly hitting my side from the force of the air, but I was too concerned with the men in the Department Store to think of all the trouble that the wind alone could cause me. I really should have taken all of the precautions, though.

Suddenly, only a moment after I had left the store, the wind pushed the baseball cap I was wearing off of my head. I felt the movement and reached up to grab it. I caught it in midair, but I was too late. My hair had been exposed.

Unfortunately for me, it didn't take the men in uniforms long to come running out of the Department Store, chasing after me. I heard them open the doors of the store behind me much faster than they were supposed to move. It sounded as if they had broken them by forcing them open too quickly. Their feet sounding together as they ran created the illusion of what could've been a small crowd.

Reacting quickly, I began to sprint. My feet pounded hard against the pavement of the streets there as I passed a few buildings on the same road. I put the hat back on my head as I went, making sure every hair was out of sight. It was difficult while running, but a human is capable of doing anything when in this much danger.

_Where can I go?_ I asked myself silently. Scared to death, I thought about what was happening to me. I had only escaped from the hideout a couple of hours ago, and already they had seen what had happened. I should have probably done something to cover it up better, but I had just run away instead. I wondered how many people were looking for me. After all, it was a bad thing I had done. They couldn't possibly pardon my mistake, and they wouldn't be willing to consider the fact that it was an accident.

_No, this is the right thing! Don't make yourself feel guilty_, I thought angrily. Tears began to cloud my vision, but I reached up and rubbed them away. Yes, this was the right thing to do, and now, I had to find a way out of here. Although the absolute worst thing had happened, it was not intentional on my part. I still deserved to have a life, and I still deserved to start over. First and foremost, though, I needed to get rid of these men who were tailing me so that I could hide and begin my new life.

I knew where I needed to go. To the east of Veilstone, there was not really enough of a forest for me to hide in. I would be forced to go south, in the direction of Lake Valor.

How could I stop the men, though? I was only a young girl, and I was running from three grown men, one of which was very likely to catch up to me at some point. I needed something that could give me the advantage. I needed someone else's help.

Reaching for my waist and ripping the middle buttons of my trench coat open, I grabbed the only Pokeball that was inside of my pocket. As I ran for my life, I lifted the Pokeball up and threw it into the air. Its white and red exterior cracked open, slicing the two colored halves. Instantly, a beam of red energy poured out and into the air above me, slowly solidifying into a definite shape.

A small, brown Pokemon wearing a skull mask and holding another bone in his hand hovered in the air for only a moment before he began to fall back towards the earth.

"Cubone!" My Pokemon shouted as he flailed his arms in fear.

"No, it's okay!" I shouted as I caught him in my arms. "Cubone, I need your help!"

The cute little ground Pokemon looked at me through the holes of his skull mask as I continued to run. He bounced up and down in my arms with each step, but at this point, who cared about a smooth ride?

On either side of me, familiar buildings went flying by. I could see the Veilstone bank, the gym, and the homes of some of the citizens. I thought for a moment that I might actually miss this, but I shook it off. That notion was outlandish.

"Remember that move we've been practicing?" I asked my Pokemon as I breathed hard from running.

Cubone lifted the bone in his hand and nodded at me.

"Okay, Cubone!" I said excitedly as I sprinted. "See those guys behind us? Use Bonemerang on them!"

I held Cubone against my left shoulder so that he would face the men chasing us. (To passersby, it might have looked like I was giving him a hug while running.) I lifted him up so that he would have a bigger area in which to swing his arm. Otherwise, he might accidentally hit me while using the attack.

He threw the arm that held the bone back and pushed it forward with a decisive "Cu-BONE!"

Although I couldn't see what was happening, I could imagine the attack very clearly. Cubone and I had done this at least one thousand times, after all. He would release the bone from his grip with full force, twisting his wrist at the very end so it could rotate properly. The bone would chase after its target, spinning rapidly in the air. If it missed the first time, it would surely hit from behind when returning to my Cubone.

"Watch out!" Warned one of the men coming from behind me.

I chose to steal a quick glance over my shoulder, and was able to see the men in uniform ducking down as the spiraling bone flew past them with amazing speed. They threw their hands over their heads, thinking that they were now safe from the attack. Then, as they started to rise from their ducking positions, I felt a smile involuntarily beginning to form on my face. It may have been the first time in a while, but I knew something that they didn't know: Bonemerang would hit twice.

Already having turned back around, I heard a loud "CRACK!" shortly after.

"Cubone!" My Pokemon yelled triumphantly.

Behind me, I heard two of the men scream loudly, and then groan in pain. I wasn't quite sure of how one attack had brought down two of them. They must've been running close to one another.

"Did it knock them down?" I quickly asked my only friend.

"Bone!" Cubone nodded and smiled with his eyes, assuring me the attack had done the job.

The bone came flying back to Cubone, and he caught it with ease. He raised it again in a threatening manner, but I knew it probably wouldn't work very well the second time. The remaining man could possibly sick his Pokemon on us, and just the two of us alone wouldn't stand a chance against an experienced trainer and all of his Pokemon. It wouldn't have been very fair.

I felt a hint of relief when I saw that the buildings of Veilstone were thinning out and I was at last close to Route 214. I ran straight for the grassy road that would be my way to freedom. Well, that is to say, only if I could lose my trail.

As I left Veilstone, I felt the height of the grass begin to gradually become higher and higher, until eventually, it was brushing against the sides of my muddy boots. On either side of me, the woods were rich with beautiful wildflowers and tall trees. Moving fast, I could only see a blur of yellows, pinks, purples, and whites out of the corner of my eyes. Occasionally, I ran by a small cottage made of wood, but I didn't have time to concern myself with who might live there. I really wished that there was a way that I could've just been relaxing in the fields and enjoying the lovely scenery rather than running from people that were recently made my enemies.

Wondering if anyone was still following me, I took another look behind. I could see all the trees and grass and wild insect Pokemon, but I didn't see any other humans. Of course, I should've also been watching in front of me for other people.

"Whoa!" A man's voice came from the direction I was running to.

I looked forward and saw the figure of another person, but it was just too late. I barely even had the time to try to stop. Cubone and I slammed into him hard and I fell backwards, still carrying my Pokemon. My sunglasses fell off of my face and flew into the grass somewhere.

I closed my eyes for a moment and rubbed them. Sitting up, I looked at who I had just bumped into. He was a very tall man, most likely in his mid-thirties, with light blonde hair and a very kind face. He was very chubby, which only added to his overall large appearance. He wore denim overalls with a white T-shirt and a red baseball cap.

He reached his arm out to help me up and I accepted his help. I brushed the grass off of my trench coat and reached up to make sure my hat was still covering my hair. Making sure my Pokemon was okay, I decided it was best to recall him, and soon, he was absorbed into his Pokeball with a flash of red light.

"Quick! Come inside!" The man whispered to me. He apparently did not have any time to waste, since he grabbed my arm and dragged me inside without even so much as an exchange of names. He thrust open the door of what I could only assume was his own home and stood there, waiting for me to come inside. I caught a quick glimpse of the outside before he pulled me in, noticing the beautiful cedar wood exterior. The windows were bordered by extra pieces of wood, making them stand out. The cottage was topped with a roof of straw above that of wood, which I guessed was what supported it and provided the real shelter. The straw was likely a decoration.

Once inside, the man slammed the door and, walking around me, sat down at his kitchen table. Everything about this house was very different. The first level was just one large room that wrapped around a cedar wood staircase in the center of it. I was struck by the amount of antiques this man possessed. I saw old vases that were probably from different cultures around the world. I saw an old-fashioned rocking horse in the back corner, which stood next to a shelf that was completely filled with small white figurines of things like knights, horses, and other kinds of warriors. There were lots of interesting musical instruments that hung from stands nailed to the wall, like different varieties of wooden flutes, some string instruments that resembled a guitar, and some percussive instruments like bongos.

This guy must have seen me eyeing his possessions, and I nearly jumped when I heard him begin to speak again.

"I sell these things to people. Those over there," he said while pointing to the flutes, "are Pokeflutes. Trainers also like to decorate their Secret Bases with some of this old stuff."

We both looked around the room momentarily, taking in all of the things he owned. Then, he spoke again.

"I have to do this kind of work, because having my own small business is much easier for the other kind of work I do," he told me. "You see, that's why I brought you here."

I made a face in between a frown and a sneer and stared at him for a moment. What in the world was going on? I didn't have time to sit and have tea. I was a fugitive that was trying to escape. I was running from people that thought I was a murderer!

"Um, what do you mean?" I asked shyly.

"Well, to make a long story short, I received a phone call from one of my men in Veilstone," he began.

_His men?_ I thought, terrified. _Oh no, he's not another one of… them…_

I had dealt with people who called those that work for them "their men" for far too long, and this sounded way too much like that. In fact, I had lived with them and been practically imprisoned by them. It had been a deplorable existence, and I couldn't take that again. I felt a cold rush of panic sweep over me, and I began to shake. I had to do something to get away.

Before he could begin his next sentence, I started backing away from him. Slowly, I moved towards the door behind me. The floorboards below me creaked as I stepped lightly away from the man who suddenly seemed so unsafe. The only reason I had trusted him and gone into his home was because there were people after me. I never had a reason to rely on _any _other human being.

When he saw that I was frightened and trying to leave, he rose from his chair. He put his hands out in front of him and started shaking his head.

"No, no," he said calmly. "I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you get away from those evil men."

I wasn't sure if I could trust him or not, but I stopped moving away. He did seem to be bent on helping me, after all. Even if he wasn't, I really had no choice. I guess I was starting to think I was just being silly for assuming he led some sort of gang just from him saying "his men." I thought that I'd ask, though, just to make sure.

"So, who are these… these men of yours?" I asked quietly.

When he realized that I was no longer desperate to leave immediately, he backed away and sat back down in his chair. He put his hand on his chin and rubbed it before speaking again.

"That's what I wanted to explain to you. One of my men saw you running from Team Galactic. They also witnessed your Cubone using a powerful attack on them. He rang me up and told me about it, so I'm hiding you away from them until they're completely gone. My name is Robert, and I am part of The Resistance," he explained.

"I'm Alexandria… or Alex," I replied softly. I waited for him to elaborate on what he had just said, but got nothing else. I had never heard of The Resistance before, but he was acting as if they were a famous group of pop entertainers that everyone knew.

"What do you mean?" I decided to ask.

"Well, I mean what I said," he replied, then sighed from exhaustion before going on. "I am part of The Resistance, a group that fights Team Galactic."

My eyes grew wide as he said this, and I felt my heart begin to race. I felt sweat suddenly forming on my brow. _Would he be able to tell who I was?_

"They have gained considerable power in the past couple of years," he continued, not noticing my strange reaction. "They even have control over the police departments of a couple of other cities, so there's really no way to stop them. Even so, if you try and make them mad, they'll simply kill you. They're growing into a sort of totalitarian regime. They're gaining control over everything, and they let nothing stand in their way. I mean nothing."

Of course, this I knew very well. I had been there. I had witnessed prisoners beg for their lives as they were tortured by Team Galactic. They were merciless, especially when someone held valuable information that they needed, or, in this case, when they wanted to carry out revenge.

"We do some things to foil their plans, but it's never enough. We figure that any little bit will help them lose power, though. I hope that The Resistance can put a stop to them completely someday," Robert said sadly. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of us before. You seemed like maybe you were even a part of The Resistance. I mean, after all, you were fighting them and running from them. Most people don't even dare to resist anymore," he inquired with a suspicious look.

I shifted in my stance nervously, not really sure of what to say. I searched for a logical answer and, eventually, found the closest thing I could.

"I escaped from them," I told him, nearly stammering.

This was not a lie, really. In fact, that's what had happened, minus a few... details. Still, I felt guilty leaving a huge part of it out. I was omitting the truth, which could still be considered a lie. I couldn't have possibly told him the whole story, though, since I don't believe he - or anyone - would really understand my situation. He would've probably kicked me out of his house the moment he found out.

"Ah," he replied, scratching his head. "I know some others that were imprisoned by them. They eventually got out unharmed, but it was grueling to escape."

I nodded quickly, thinking I should leave soon. I still didn't know if those men were following me, and they could easily find me here. Also, what if Robert found out who I was? Then, I'd have all sorts of people chasing after me, and I didn't need any more.

What happens next still boggles my mind to this day. Just as I was worrying about Team Galactic's men coming after me, there was a loud knock at Robert's door. Whoever it was kept pounding and pounding, apparently trying to be as aggravating as possible.

Robert and I exchanged looks of shock and fear, and he motioned for me to go in the back and hide. Not knowing where I could safely hide on the first level, I instead decided to run up the stairs to the second level. This floor was much smaller than the first, and all I could see as I climbed through a square hole to get there were a small bathroom and a bedroom. It was quite dark up there, so I couldn't catch many details. From what I could observe, it almost had an attic-type feel to it, as if these were the kind of stairs that folded down, leaving only a small hole to climb through. I made sure to move to the opposite side from the staircase so that I was now looking at the stairs from across the opening.

Sitting and holding my knees, I listened as Robert opened his door. He gave a friendly "hello" and then shut the door again, going outside to speak to whoever was there. Listening carefully, I could hear the murmur of voices. I could make out some of what they were saying when I held my breath.

"Hm, wearing a trench coat and a baseball cap, you say?" Robert said in a loud, clear voice, probably so that I would know it wasn't safe to stop hiding. "No, I haven't seen anyone like that pass by here."

A trench coat and a baseball cap? That's all that they used to describe me? What would stop them from telling Robert something that he'd kick me out for? Maybe they weren't telling him who I really was to avoid the humiliation of my leaving. They had a reputation to uphold and pride to support, and my escape would likely damage that to some degree.

"Damn it, Joe! If you hadn't have stopped to help us, you could've gone after her and could've at least seen where she went!" I heard an angry man yelling.

"Hey, sorry for trying to _help_," I heard another deep voice respond.

"Yeah, well that's not going to get us anywhere, you fool," the first man spat back loudly. "You better tell us if she comes by here, old man. You call Veilstone Headquarters the moment you see her, understand?"

"Oh, of course, sir," Robert replied enthusiastically.

It seemed that that was exactly what they wanted to hear, since Robert was now opening his front door and coming back inside. I heard only one pair of footsteps creak against the wooden floorboards of his home, so I knew it was him.

"Hey, you can come out now," he said quietly at the base of the stairs.

I peaked out so that I could look below and saw Robert standing there with one foot on the stairs and an arm on the railing. I stood up and walked around so that I could get down. Slowly, I stepped on each of the wooden stairs. I was still so scared. It was a very close call, and thanks to Robert and the fact that the one Galactic Grunt was stupid enough not to chase me, I was safe for now.

"Don't worry, they won't get you," Robert kindly assured me. "Listen, you should stay here tonight. You should also consider helping us with our missions, since you're clearly an enemy of Team Galactic. Being a part of The Resistance also means being protected by us. We all work together to make sure everyone on the team is safe."

I gave him a fake smile and raised my eyebrows. This was insane. I couldn't do any of this! Also, I couldn't take off my disguise until I had fixed my appearance. I needed to get away so I could put on normal clothes, change my hair, and dispose of the old uniform.

"Um, do you mind if I use your bathroom? I feel very sick to my stomach," I asked awkwardly, hoping this plan would work.

"Oh, of course, young lady," Robert frowned as he said this. "It's upstairs, as I'm guessing you already noticed."

With a polite "thanks," I ran up to the second level, carrying the bag filled with the things that would change my identity. Once there, I opened the door of the bathroom further so I could get in. It was very old, with chips of wood peeling off, and it made a loud, creaking sound as I shut it. The lock seemed man-made. Constructed from rusting metal, it had two small bars on both sides of the door. When turning an equally rusty handle from the inside, the bars turned, creating a little barricade from both the outside and inside of the bathroom.

I turned around, knowing I had to hurry even despite the lie I told Robert. I grabbed the plastic bag I had received from the Department Store and opened it up. I ripped the hair dye out and rolled my eyes at the annoying phony smile of the hair model on the front, then quickly read the instructions.

"It takes… thirty minutes," I whispered to myself as I read the back of the package. I walked over to the sink. It resembled a large bowl and was mostly white, with a few rust stains where the drain began and spots of blue and white that I could only assume was tooth paste residue. The mirror above it seemed as if it hadn't been washed in ages, as there were foggy spots all over it, reflecting my blurry face back at me.

I sighed as I looked at myself. I looked so ridiculous wearing a trench coat and a hat with all of my hair stuffed in it. The scarf added to the fact that I was obviously disguised, and I wanted to hit myself for trying way too hard. At this point, I wouldn't have been surprised if Robert initially had assumed I was a boy before hearing me speak. Still, I couldn't let him see my hair or what I was wearing.

Finally having some privacy, I removed the cap from my head. Straight, bright blue hair that grew a little past my shoulders collapsed around my face. It looked just like my mother's. She had the exact same texture to her hair as I did. Soon, though, I would wash myself clean of this mess I had made. Maybe someday, I would have a normal life. Maybe someday, I would no longer think about her...

I quickly applied the brown hair dye, making sure it covered every inch of my head. I removed the trench coat since, after all, I thought I might be able to get some more use out of that someday and the dye might ruin it if it dripped. What was underneath, though, I would never wear again.

I looked down at myself and saw the wretched clothes I had been forced to wear for so long. The black and silver top with the tight black pants, the muddy boots that were originally shiny silver, and, of course, the symbol on my chest glared up at me, almost as if it was throwing my true, unwanted identity in my face. Although I had originally been lying to Robert about being ill, I felt as if I might really throw up when I looked at the G that stood for Team Galactic…


	2. A Shameful Past

A little over thirty minutes later, I was back downstairs, sitting and eating dinner with Robert. He made some kind of beef stew that I wasn't exactly all that hungry for, but I couldn't refuse his hospitality and be rude. So, I ate a good amount of it, telling him it was very delicious throughout the meal.

I looked down at the bag that rested against my feet, which contained my trench coat, my old uniform, and my boots. I had carefully wrapped the old uniform and boots inside of the much larger tan coat. I was thankful that I was young and had small feet; otherwise, the boots might not have been able to fit properly. I had also placed the hat inside, thinking I might need it in case my roots start showing sooner than planned.

Readjusting my focus away from the bag, I glanced at my shoulder. I unexpectedly saw strands of brown hair. The sight nearly startled me for a moment, but then I simply reminded myself of the fact that I had just died my bright blue hair a much less conspicuous color.

_Will I ever miss it?_ I asked myself. No, I wasn't exactly referring to the hair color, but more of what it meant. I was no longer a part of Team Galactic. By escaping the Hideout in the way that I did, I betrayed them, and they had every reason to be after me. I was responsible for killing someone. I had to just learn to admit that to myself. Keeping such a dark secret is hard when you can't even accept the truth yourself.

I remembered it all so well and so painfully, though, and I knew I couldn't keep it to myself forever. It all ended just yesterday, after all. How could I have forgotten so soon? For fourteen whole years, I was there, living with them, watching them, and learning from them. They tried to teach me about Pokemon, about how to get what you want, and even about taking over the world. We would hold battles against other kids that were destined to become Galactic Grunts when they grew up. We were each given one Pokemon that was stolen to keep as our own and use it for battle. A lot of kids didn't even know where their Pokemon had come from exactly. We all knew for sure that they were either stolen or purchased illegally somehow.

Unfortunately, I did know where my Cubone came from, thanks to two loud Grunts who didn't know when to keep their mouths shut. His mother had been murdered by Team Galactic when they were trudging through Kanto and trying to take over. When Cubone got upset and tried to fight back, they simply knocked him out cold and dragged him to the Hideout in Veilstone City. He didn't have a trainer for a very long time, since no one wanted him. He was lonely and miserable, and when young aspiring trainers tried to pet him, he would hit them hard with the bone of his mother that he carried.

I remembered the day that I met him… he had done the very same thing to me. I got upset too, and assumed he didn't want any attention from anyone. I guessed that he just wanted to be left alone all the time. Despite that, something about him made me keep going back. I was frustrated with him, of course, but in a way, I also understood him. You see, I was a very lonely little girl filled with melancholy before I met Cubone, and he was a very lonely Pokemon. We both understood what it was like to be sad, and we found comfort in each other's presence.

A couple of times each week, I would go down to The Keep, or the area in which Team Galactic kept its stolen Pokemon. I would go down by myself and watch the other aspiring grunts talking and laughing and looking at all of the Pokemon. Everyone else had a lot of friends. Everyone else was able to choose a Pokemon very easily too. If it resisted them even slightly, as Cubone usually did, they would simply reject it and find a Pokemon that would obey without questioning the orders they were given. It wasn't as if I had wanted a challenge or anything. It wasn't like I knew I was better and could tame a Pokemon that wouldn't listen to anyone else. No, I know now that I chose Cubone because I needed someone that could fill my empty heart.

There was certainly no human being there that could do that for me. I was teased a lot as a child by the other kids, and everyone thought of me as the most useless member of Team Galactic. It most likely began when I was very young. I was shy and very slow to make friends. I was only decent at knowing things about Pokemon, and even so, I still wasn't a genius or anything. I certainly wasn't very good at playing sports or talking to other people. So, no one even made an effort to get to know me. They just made fun of me, frequently calling me a "reject" and laughing when I was sitting alone at lunch time, eagerly waiting for class to begin again so that I didn't have to suffer through that embarrassment. They would even sometimes go so far as to say that I needed medicine so I could "get fixed."

After such a long time of being told I was worthless, I actually started to believe it was true. A person can only handle so much abuse, and the weight of their insults and rejection was pushing me closer and closer to the ground. I wasn't sure of when I would collapse, but I knew that I would eventually. I simply couldn't handle that pressure for my entire life.

My peers were not the only ones that completely disapproved of who I was. In fact, it seemed that my own family did not notice that I was technically alive. My father was always out doing odd jobs with the group of grunts that he was in charge of, so I never saw him. He would come home very late – sometimes at four o'clock in the morning – and then he would leave again before I woke up for school. When he was actually home for a little while, he would lock himself in my parents' bedroom and obsessively plan his next mission. I would only see him come out to grab a cup of coffee or a snack or something. The few times that I did see him, he looked so exhausted and disheveled. His hair was always a mess, and he always had bags under his blood-shot eyes. His hands would shake violently when getting his coffee, and I knew that was because he didn't sleep and was only kept conscious by unhealthy amounts of caffeine. He ignored me for the most part, but occasionally threw a quick "Hi, Al" my way. That was honestly the nicest thing anyone in Team Galactic ever said to me, though.

My sister, Ashley, was three years my senior. She was currently seventeen-years-old, and was doing quite well for herself. She was very intelligent and sociable. Everyone loved her so much. Little kids looked up to her, my parents praised her constantly, and her friends always wanted to be around her. (Boys especially wanted to be around her.) She was tall and beautiful, with long flowing hair and intense blue eyes. If she hadn't been doing so well with Team Galactic jobs, she probably could've found herself very successful with a modeling career. Still, she was one of the best young Galactic trainers. She and her Golbat were an unstoppable team, only losing a couple of battles throughout all those years of training and battling sessions. She would probably grow up to be a higher-ranking officer for Team Galactic, since she was so talented at coming up with strategies. She was quite different from me, and one could probably say that she was the exact opposite. In fact, sometimes kids would ask her how we were related, because they thought that it couldn't possibly be true.

Despite being my sibling, Ashley never treated me like a sister. Actually, she refused to treat me like a fellow human being. She ignored me when I walked by her in the school building, and when kids would make fun of me, she would change the subject. She refused to acknowledge my existence, even in a negative manner. I knew that she was very ashamed of me, and that made me ashamed of myself.

I suppose that out of anyone, though, my mother was the worst. Although my father and older sister neglected me, it was through my mother that I experienced abuse. She was the type of person that had to have everything go exactly her way. If someone caused problems for her plans, she wouldn't hesitate to punish them. She ranked higher than my father did and was the top Grunt for Team Galactic. She was in charge of controlling all of the missions and making sure the Grunts were doing their jobs, and if they didn't, she would make sure they were fired, demoted, or possibly kicked out of Team Galactic completely. I saw the pressure that she put on all of the Grunts merely by watching my father. He never slept, and was always working on finishing his missions. I imagined that he had grown to fear her after she was promoted, just like everyone else.

She was just ruthless, and never showed anyone any mercy. After a bad day at work, she would sometimes take her frustration out on me. I was usually the only one available, since my father was either out or locked in my parents' bedroom, and my sister was training or spending time with her friends. I started becoming accustomed to running to my room and closing the door when she came home. We lived in a tiny apartment on one of the upper floors of the huge Galactic Headquarters building, so it wasn't as if I could hear her pulling into a driveway and have time to run away. No, I had to watch the clock. Sometimes, she would come home early, though, and I didn't have time to get out of her destructive path.

Most of the time, she would yell at me. She would ask me why I wasn't out doing something useful, like looking for a Pokemon to train or making friends. Sometimes, she was much harsher, asking me why I was the way I was. She always questioned why I couldn't "just be normal" or why I had to be "such an embarrassment to her." Her yelling and screaming always lasted a couple of hours, and it was always about the same things.

My mother was indeed verbally abusive, but it wasn't always just that. When she was really mad, she would take it out on me in a different way. A few different times, she had come home in a rage. Slamming the door, she would storm over to me without saying a word. She would push the book I was reading out of my hand or throw the homework I was doing on the floor and grab hold of my arm. Without warning, she would pull me off the couch and slap me across the face with her dominant hand. It was always a terrifying blur for me, and I never understood why this was happening. I grew to assume that everything that went badly for her was all my fault, and I started to feel extremely guilty.

Depending on how hard she hit me, I would sometimes get a bad looking bruise on my left cheek. It was obvious that someone was hurting me, but everyone looked the other way. My sister would sometimes come out from her bedroom to see what the commotion was about. She would eventually convince my mother that I "wasn't even worth hitting" and that I was "too pathetic." It prevented her from slapping me, but in an awful way. It didn't matter, though. I didn't matter. It wasn't as if I could run and tell the police what was happening. They no longer had any power over anyone whatsoever. Team Galactic was running the show now, and my mother was one of the top. Going to another Grunt and complaining that my mother hit me and yelled at me wouldn't do any good. They would just tell me it was none of their business and that I should leave them alone. After all, they didn't want to be fired, and they certainly would be if they talked badly about my mother to anyone. I couldn't go to higher officers either, because they had a lot of respect for my mother. They probably wouldn't believe me if I said anything, or, if they did believe me, they'd probably tell me that I deserved it or something along those lines.

Actually, that was the biggest reason I didn't go to anyone about that problem. I thought of myself as worthless, and I came to realize that there must have been some logical reason that my mother was hurting me. There must have been some reason that my peers didn't accept me and that my father and sister overlooked my presence every single day. Alongside everyone else, I really thought that I deserved such maltreatment.

Perhaps that's why I came to see Cubone as my friend, even despite the fact that he slapped me on the hand with his bone a couple of times. He was just scared of me, I thought, and that was different from any reaction I'd received from anyone in my entire life. I began to go down to The Keep every day after the first time I met Cubone. I was twelve, and had suffered enough abuse from everyone to truly need someone to talk to. Cubone was a Pokemon, and although he could understand what I said and what I felt, he could never inform anyone of what I was telling him. So, I started talking to him about how sad I was. I asked him things that I asked myself every day, like, "What have I done to make everyone treat me like this?" and "Am I that bad?" Sometimes, I would go to The Keep late at night when no one else was there, and face the cage that held the ground-type Pokemon. I would cry very hard as I told him everything that had happened that day and throughout my life. It was the only time I allowed myself to do that, despite needing to much more often. Still, Cubone soon became the only one that I could trust.

Initially, he didn't feel the same about me at all. The first couple of weeks of me going down to speak with him, he would turn around so that his back was facing me as he sat. He would fold his arms over his small chest and close his eyes, pretending not to notice that I was there. He would do that the entire time I was there, refusing to act like he was listening to what I was saying. Regardless, I told him everything. For once in my life, I didn't hold back. I didn't feel awkward speaking to him, and I didn't feel like he would just make fun of me and call me a loser like the kids in my class, because I knew that he was in pain too.

One day, after giving me the cold shoulder for a long time, things changed between us. It had been a very bad night for me, and I desperately needed to escape from my apartment and go to Cubone. My mother had come home from work quite late, and she was swearing and mumbling something about everything going wrong when she entered our little apartment. Throwing down some paperwork on the counter, she slammed her hand against it furiously.

Sitting on the couch and reading a book about ghost-type Pokemon, I made the mistake of looking at her. Instantly, her anger transferred from her problems at work to what a problem I was to her. She had paused for a second to look at me, and I could sense her rage was increasing.

"You!" She said in a low growl as she stared at me.

Then came all the familiar questions that I never knew how to answer: What was I doing just sitting there? Why wasn't I making myself useful? Why wasn't I studying more Team Galactic strategies? Why couldn't I just be a normal person? Why was I always in the way?

I could only stare at my mother as she fired the condescending and hurtful queries at me, but the fact that I didn't answer only angered her further. She marched over to me and, grabbing my wrist, yanked me off of the couch so that I was standing and facing her.

"No, mom... Please!" I begged as tears began to form in my eyes. I couldn't stop them anymore.

"Well then, answer me!" She shouted in my face.

I tried to cover my head with my other arm, but she was too strong and too fast. She reached up and hit me hard across the mouth. My head was forced to the side as I cringed from the pain, but it was the shock that hurt the most. Immediately, I tasted blood as it poured out of the spot where my teeth met my gums.

My mother let go of me and pushed me backwards. Luckily, I landed on the couch, but I was still stunned. Putting my hand up to my lips, I rubbed my fingers against the escaping blood that was running down my face. I pulled my hand away and stared at it for a moment. I began convulsing from fear and realized that my suddenly heavy tears were running down my cheeks.

As my mother retreated to her room as if nothing bad had happened, I got up and ran. The blood on my hands rubbed off on the doorknob as I flung it open, and then smudged the elevator buttons to go down to The Keep, but I didn't care. It was late, and there was no one around, so I ran and ran as the tears blurred my vision. The blood coming out of my mouth dripped down onto the shirt of my Galactic uniform, showing up on the black shirt as a dark spot.

Soon, I was in The Keep, and I ran down the long, gray hallway to where Cubone's cage was. I knelt there in front of it and reached my hand inside.

"Cubone, please! Please... It just keeps getting worse!" I shouted through thick sobs. My despair-filled voice echoed through the long, dimly lit hallway.

I tasted a mixture of blood and salt as I lowered my head against the bars of Cubone's cage and closed my eyes tightly. I watched two tears fall from my chin and splash lightly against the gray, porous, cement floor. Meanwhile, the blood was beginning to dry on my face. Hands wrapped around the metal, I breathed hard, trying to control myself as I sat there. I just couldn't, though, and the tears wouldn't stop coming.

At that moment, right when I was most desperate to have someone there to catch my fall, I felt something soft on one of my hands. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a small, brown paw holding onto my index finger. Wiping my tears away with my other hand, I looked up and blinked hard, trying to regain some of my vision.

Cubone was standing there, staring straight into my eyes for the first time. He was making such a simple gesture, but it was everything that I ever needed from anyone: to be acknowledged, to be understood, and to be cared about. He gave me a very sad look, which I returned back at him, knowing he would empathize. I knew that I had to find a way to protect Cubone and give him my care in return.

"Cubone! Please, come with me and be my Pokemon!" I requested with slurred speech. I was still crying a little, and it made my voice sound very strange.

The ground-type Pokemon stared at me for quite a while, but finally looked at the ground and nodded solemnly, all the while still holding my hand to comfort me.

The following morning, I had run down to The Keep as soon as the guard was to begin his shift. He held the keys to all of the Pokemon cages, and he was the one that made sure a child was only going to get one Pokemon. I signed up so quickly that I hardly remember any of it. I rushed the man in charge of distributing the Pokemon to young, aspiring Galactic Grunts, making him open Cubone's cage and hand me his Pokeball as soon as he could. He was irritated with me obviously, but I really didn't mind. I had a Cubone!

Although the previous day was the absolute worst of my life, the day upon which I acquired Cubone was surely the greatest. From that moment on, I felt that I had a purpose. I now had a serious responsibility by getting a Pokemon. I was in charge of feeding, playing with, and training Cubone, and I did this exceptionally well. After all, I had never had anyone to take care of, and no one had really wanted to take care of me, so these duties were very well received by me. (It is a very powerful thing to have someone else need you. It changes everything. It makes you need them. It makes you need to stay alive, despite suffering for so long.)

With a new companion in my life, I started to gradually become more self confident. Granted, I never did gain the ability to talk to other kids and make friends, but I started to realize that I might not have been such a bad kid myself. It took quite a long time, but I stopped telling myself that I deserved it, and started to attribute the maltreatment that I received to other people being horrible. _Maybe it's them_, I would tell myself, although still doubtfully.

Regardless, I started to feel a little more alive every day, and as Cubone and I trained and learned more about Pokemon together, we both got a lot stronger and grew much closer as friends. In fact, Cubone grew to be extremely protective of me. I honestly couldn't tally up all of the times he used a Bone Club attack on a classmate that made fun of me, or gave a Headbutt attack to someone that laughed at me. He was the most loyal friend I could've asked for, but he did have a quick temper. This didn't usually get us into trouble, believe it or not, until the very night that I decided to leave...

After finishing up my homework, I wanted to let Cubone out of his Pokeball so that we could talk and watch TV together. We were sitting on the couch and quietly paying attention to a terribly boring game show, when the door was suddenly thrown open and my mother burst into our apartment. She threw her coat onto the floor and tossed her keys at the refrigerator angrily.

I exchanged a nervous glance with Cubone, who didn't seem to completely understand what was going on. _That's right_, I thought, _he's never experienced this, even while living with me for two years._

It was true. My mother had come inside to start verbally attacking me before, but I had always sent Cubone back inside of his Pokeball right beforehand, trying to prevent him from hearing the terrible things my own mother thought of me. I just wanted his life to be fun and simple, and I didn't need my awful mother getting in the way of that and making him upset.

"Hey! Why didn't you make dinner or something? Shouldn't you be out with some friends, like a normal teenager? Honestly, you are so useless. I can't stand it," she started rambling on and on again.

With this, I reached for my pocket to grab Cubone's Pokeball. Running my fingers along the cotton of the inside, I felt nothing. Quickly, I checked the other one, but I felt nothing there also. Panicking, I stood up. I looked around rapidly, checking the couch, the floor, the table, the TV stand, etc. However, it was no where to be found. I knew that I must have left it in my bedroom.

I looked down at where Cubone was sitting, but he was no longer there. He hadn't wandered far, though, and was now standing on the arm rest of the couch, slightly closer to my wicked mother. He stood very still as he stared at the quick-tempered woman across the room, bone in hand and tail preventing him from falling off of the narrow arm rest.

"Now what is _his_ problem?!" My mother asked about my Pokemon. "Put him away."

"I, uh... I don't have his Pokeball," I stated honestly. The moment I uttered the words, however, I knew that that was the wrong thing to say.

The woman I feared so much unfolded her arms from her chest and put them at her side. She bit her lower lip, squinted her eyes, and lowered her eyebrows. Then, she began to slowly walk closer to me.

"Are you talking back to me?" She asked irrationally, apparently not listening. "You better not argue with me." She was getting closer and closer.

I felt my fear grow much deeper as she walked past Cubone, closing in on me. I noticed the tears begin to form in my eyes as she stood so close that her face was only a couple of inches from mine. She stared at me, and I could now see a vein in her forehead sticking out above her sunken-in, tired eyes. Her blue hair was frazzled and her uniform tinted from sunlight and dirty from too much use. I trembled as I felt her breath reach my face.

"Like I said, are you really going to argue with me?" She said quietly and seriously.

"I... I... no!" I said, trying to think of an explanation to give her so that nothing too bad would happen. Just then, however, I saw Cubone doing something out of the corner of my eye. I glanced to the side, looking past my mother's shoulder, and saw that my little Pokemon was about to... use an attack!

"No!" I yelled, but my mother apparently assumed that I was just trying to avoid her hits. I jumped out of the way and to the side, landing on the coffee table beside the couch. I got away in plenty of time to stop myself from getting hit, but could I stop Cubone from throwing his weapon?

I pushed myself off of the table as quickly as I could and started to get up, but it was simply too late to stop him. With a huge heave, he sent the small, thin bone flying at my mother. It was a Bonemerang attack, or a powerful ground-type attack that worked like a boomerang, spinning and returning to its master. The bone spun rapidly in the air and was headed straight for the back of my mother's head. She started to turn around to see what was going on, but she was not fast enough. The bone hit her hard, bouncing off of the left side of her forehead. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she let out a loud groan. I stared in awe as she then dropped to the floor, clearly unconscious.

My heart started to beat so hard that I could now hear and feel it in my throat. Beads of sweat formed on my face and back, and I was swept up by the cold waves of adrenaline that pumped through my blood vessels. I swallowed hard, and then looked at Cubone.

He stood there with his paw straight up in the air. In a second, the bone returned to him, and he caught it effortlessly. He lowered his arm and placed it at his side. He simply looked over the coffee table to where my mother laid.

I couldn't believe this. I had tried to prevent it from happening, but I was too late. Now, Cubone had knocked my mother out and I would be punished for the rest of my life. I gasped quietly as I pictured being locked up in a cage or being tortured by all those that loved yet feared my mother so much. Perhaps I would be gagged and tied up and then starved to death. I couldn't even imagine at this point.

From where I was at that moment, kneeling on the couch, I couldn't actually see my mother's face. I saw her feet and the beginning of her legs from underneath the table, but that was it. I cringed as I realized that I had to make sure she was okay. Horrifying images clouded my mind, like her suddenly grabbing the neck of my shirt as I knelt over her to make sure she was still breathing. I shook them off, though, and started to get up from the couch. I slowly rose until I was on my feet and standing straight up again. Immediately, I became upset that I had looked.

My mother laid on the floor with mouth and eyes wide open. She seemed to be staring straight up at the ceiling in shock, at first, but one would have to be a fool to think that that's what she was doing. From the wound that Cubone had caused on her forehead gushed deep, dark red blood. It had only been a minute since she had been hit, and already the blue carpet in our apartment was soaked with the crimson liquid that previously kept her alive. Yes, I now knew that I did not need to kneel over her at all. I did not need to check to see if she was breathing or if she had a pulse. She was dead.

That very moment was when I knew for sure that Cubone and I had to get out. I felt shock, of course, but more prominent in my mind was the anxiety that I felt. Before, I had assumed that she was just badly hurt, and I knew that I'd be punished severely for it. The circumstances were quite different, though, and I was sure that there was no longer any way that they would even let me live. They would probably kill Cubone too, and I couldn't let that happen.

"Cubone, we have to leave immediately!" I whispered, although the sound of my own voice seemed very loud as it interrupted the heavy silence that filled the room.

So, that's when I recalled Cubone, grabbed an old hat, a scarf, and a trench coat that we had, and took some money from my measly allowance and from the spare change that my parents had on the counter of our kitchen. I didn't put on the disguise until I had left the Headquarters building completely; otherwise, someone would have known that I was up to something. Once out of the building, though, I ran for my life. The rain was pouring down hard, and I trudged along the side roads of Veilstone City, getting my boots covered in the slippery mud as I went.

I knew that I only needed a hiding spot for the night, since no one would realize that my mother was missing until the morning, at least. It might have ended up being longer, in fact, but I didn't want to take any chances. I knew that I would be hunted down for what happened, and Team Galactic would not stop until they could avenge their great Grunt Leader's death.

I soon spotted an alley way between two older-looking buildings. One was a pizza place, and the other was the Post Office. I ran straight down into the alley, passing the brick building on the left, which was missing some of its bricks, and the wooden restaurant on the right, which had vines slithering their way up to its roof. There, behind the dumpsters for the two places, Cubone and I stayed. Of course, we didn't get a wink of sleep at all. We stayed up all night and Cubone listened to me brainstorm about what we should do. He couldn't stay out of his Pokeball for very long, though, since, being a ground-type, the rain bothered him a bit. So, there I sat for the remainder of the cold, rainy night, waiting until 8 AM, when the Department Store would open and I could change my life forever.

Aside from making plans for my escape from Veilstone, I thought about my mother. The horror of what had happened rung in my mind repeatedly. It forced its way to the front whenever I tried to think of something else and replayed in my head over and over again. I couldn't believe she was dead. I didn't know how I should have felt, but what I did experience for sure was guilt. After all, I was the one responsible for the loss of a life, and even though she was an evil person, she didn't deserve to die like that. I couldn't say that anyone deserved to live or die, though; it wasn't my place.

I couldn't deny that I would have gone eventually, even without this atrocious occurrence. I was not happy there, and there was simply no use for me in Team Galactic. The only reason I felt that I needed to stay was because of the fact that Team Galactic thought of those that decided to pursue other careers as traitors. If someone was born into a family of Galactic Grunts of Officers, they were forced to be a part of Team Galactic, and someone's position always depended on their skills and intelligence. If I had simply run away earlier, they would have been chasing me still. Now, though, there was absolutely no choice in the matter. I had to go. I was a fugitive, and I had no home and no human contact.

My heartbreaking memories were suddenly ripped away, though, as this situation was perhaps changing for me.

"Alex, did you hear what I said?" Robert asked me as I snapped out of my flashback.

"What? Oh… no, I didn't, I guess," I replied, ashamed that I had been concentrating on my own worries rather than listening to what he was saying. "Sorry, I have a lot to think about."

"I understand," Robert replied, giving me a sympathetic look, but I knew that he didn't really. "I asked if you'd like to help us out. I know you're quite young, but you seem like a smart young lady, and we certainly don't discriminate by age, so long as everyone that joins can keep their mouths shut. Anyway, you fought well against Team Galactic today."

I stared blankly at him for a long time, unsure of what I could say in response. I wasn't sure if I could handle the mental burden of becoming my own family's enemy. After all, my mother was already dead because of me. Why would I want to do more damage? Also, what if while helping out The Resistance, someone recognized me and blew my cover? Surely, there must've been people, at least those living in Veilstone, who had seen me walking around in a Team Galactic uniform at some point. Dying my hair and changing my clothes simply wouldn't be enough.

Then, I thought about what I knew to be the truth about Team Galactic. Regardless of whether they were my family or not, they did bad things, and all The Resistance did was foil their evil plans, right? Besides, my sister and my father were the only people I technically had ties to there, and they didn't care about me at all. No one in my class was ever nice to me, and it wasn't as if they ever would be. In fact, the only reason I was thankful for being a part of Team Galactic for fourteen years was the opportunity I had had to meet and grow close to Cubone. Nothing else about that place mattered to me. In actuality, it was horrible, and my entire stay there was just utterly painful and miserable. Although I wasn't exactly glad that my mother had died, being outside of the Headquarters was the first chance I had to feel a hint of relief from the pressures exuded by Team Galactic (aside from being around Cubone, of course).

This man, Robert, that I had known for less than a couple of hours, was the nicest human being I had ever met in my entire life. He was the first one that talked to me as if I was another person. He didn't criticize me or insult me, and he didn't laugh at me or make me feel terrible about myself. I didn't feel ashamed around him as I did around everyone in the Team Galactic school and the people in my family. This fact was actually quite sad. I barely knew this man, but he was still nicer than anyone I had ever met.

I shook my head, refusing to make myself feel cornered into doing something. I had a choice now, and I wasn't going to do anything solely because I felt obligated. My nerves consumed me, but I had to at least try to tell Robert that I wasn't positive about this. I was simply no good at being assertive, but I knew I had to attempt it when it counted. I put my hand on the kitchen table in front of me while looking into his eyes.

"I'll try it, but I'm not sure it can be a permanent thing," I said shakily. "I might have to leave or... something," I added anxiously. Despite my hidden excitement, I knew that this wasn't going to be easy.

Thankfully, Robert seemed to understand. I supposed he was the sort of person that didn't care too much for putting his nose in other peoples' business. He nodded at me, pleased with my quasi-decision, and proceeded to inform me about what we were going to do that night. I listened as he told me that basically, it was a mission to gain information. Apparently, they were cooking something up at Lake Valor, and no one in The Resistance knew exactly what that was. We weren't out to do any damage yet, because we needed to know what they were up to in order to accomplish anything. I was relieved to hear that nothing too risky was going to happen.

I felt myself tremble as I realized that I was actually doing something extremely dangerous. Still, I had no where else to go and no one else to turn to. This was it. I was now a pending member of The Resistance against Team Galactic, but would it make happy? Would I ever be able to be happy? I couldn't help but wonder as I forced the beef stew down. A part of me somehow knew that anything would be better than how I was living before...


End file.
